G7 close to agreeing help for Amazon fires

Media caption“It’s extremely upsetting… to see this kind of devastation” – the BBC’s Will Grant flew over northern Rondonia state

International leaders at the G7 summit have agreed to provide logistical and financial support to help fight fires in the Amazon rainforest.

French President Emmanuel Macron said G7 countries would release $22m (£18m).

However, President Jair Bolsonaro said Mr Macron’s plan of an “alliance” to “save” the Amazon treated Brazil “as if we were a colony or no man’s land”.

A record number of fires is burning in Brazil, mostly in the Amazon, according to the country’s space research agency.

It comes as the leaders of the G7 – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US continued to meet in Biarritz, France.

Mr Macron said the funds would be made available “immediately” – primarily to pay for more fire-fighting planes.

“France will also offer concrete support with military in the region within the next few hours,” the French leader said.

President Macron last week described the fires as an “international crisis” and pushed for them to be prioritised at the G7 summit which his country is hosting.

G7 leaders also intend to discuss plans to reforest the Amazon, at the United Nations general assembly meeting in September.

The severity of the fires, and the response by Brazil’s government, has prompted a global outcry and protests.

According to Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (Inpe), more than 75,000 fires have been recorded in Brazil so far in 2019, most of them in the Amazon region.

Critics have accused Brazil’s President, Jair Bolsonaro, of “green lighting” the Amazon’s destruction through anti-environmental rhetoric and a lack of action on deforestation violations.

What is Brazil doing?

On Friday, facing mounting pressure from abroad, President Bolsonaro authorised the military to help tackle the blazes.

The Defence Ministry has said that 44,000 troops are available to help in the effort and officials said on Sunday that military intervention has been authorised in seven states.

Warplanes have also been drafted in to dump water on the areas affected.

The president tweeted on Sunday that he had also accepted an offer of support from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Image copyrightAFP

Image caption
Protests calling for intervention have continued in Brazil across the weekend

President Bolsonaro has previously been critical of the response of foreign governments and accused them of interfering in Brazil’s national sovereignty.

On Saturday, EU Council president Donald Tusk admitted it was hard to imagine the bloc ratifying the long-awaited EU-Mercosur agreement – a landmark trade deal with South American nations – while Brazil was still failing to curb the blazes.

As criticism mounted again last week, Finland’s finance minister went as far as calling for the EU to consider banning Brazilian beef imports altogether.

Political leaders, celebrities and environmentalists are among those who have called for action to protect the Amazon.

Thousands of protesters have also taken to the streets across the world calling on governments to intervene.

On Sunday, Pope Francis also joined the call to protect the rainforest.

“We are all worried about the vast fires that have developed in the Amazon. Let us pray so that with the commitment of all, they can be put out soon. That lung of forests is vital for our planet,” he told thousands of people in St Peter’s Square.

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Media captionWorldwide protests over Brazilian government inaction on Amazon fires